Klemperer Diaries Vols 1 & 2: Vol 1 & 2. (Paperback)

Because now we REALLY know just what it was like to be a Jew in Nazi Germany. Sure, we've read other books and studied, fascinated and horrified, the many tapes of Hitler and his gang in their pomp, at their most bestial. But few books have ever documented so precisely, so accurately, so disturbingly the gross deprivations, the wilful cruelties of life for the Jew in the Reich years.

Klemperer was a distinguished academic who suffered steady demotion in his work before finally losing his job and any opportunity of other work. But time on his hands, although a painful process to endure from a psychological point of view, gave Klemperer the chance to wield a formidable pen in defiance of his foes. The world should be grateful to him for his courage and bravery in compiling these diaries for betrayal or the emergence of them before the mayhem was over would have meant certain death. Victor Klemperer and his Aryan wife (her presence alone ensured he survived the early banishment to the concentration camps) somehow lived through and emerged from a nightmare. Vivid confirmation of the hunger, the cruel taunts of ordinary Germans and the appalling deprivations are listed here in meticulous detail.

But what is most revealing are the little psychological cruelties, the true trait of the madmen, in Germany at that time. Two things struck me especially. Jews were eventually banned from buying flowers, the simplest of pleasures to brighten one's home and one's life. And then, a decree is issued demanding that all pets belonging to Jews be put down. The Klemperers are unable to prevent their beloved little cat meeting such a fate.

To suffer physical deprivation is bad enough. But to endure constant mental angst through week after week, month following month and year after year requires a fortitude and stoicism that might just be beyond many of us today.

The story of just how Klemperer actually survived the entire war in Germany is revealed within these pages. It makes for compelling reading. But for anyone studying the period, any student of the Nazi horror, this book ought to be required reading.

It is at once disturbing and horrifying yet, equally, warm and moving. The miracle of deliverance, which Klemperer never expected, is sufficient to move the reader close to tears. It is a powerful book of enormous importance to this and every generation that follows.

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Klemperers diary gave me somekind of an answer. And he does it beautifully by writing about the daily life - as a german and a Jew in Germany during Hitlers regime from 1933-45. As a reader its like being there. He is not a hero - not a fearless warrior - just an ordinary university teacher. And yet he survived somehow. Please read this book if you really want to know how it was being a Jew in Germany under nazi rule. Or - read it just because its such a amazing story.